QANTAS today announced a new codeshare agreement with Bangkok Airways, effective March 30.

Qantas’ customers will be able to book Bangkok Airways’ services from Bangkok and Singapore to six new destinations in Thailand, including Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Phuket.

Qantas and Bangkok Airways are working towards a reciprocal agreement, which will enable the latter’s customers to book Qantas’ international services from Bangkok and Singapore to Australia, and on a number of routes on Qantas’ domestic network.

The following codeshare services operated by Bangkok Airways will be available for booking and travel from March 30:
• Bangkok-Chiang Rai
• Singapore-Koh Samui
• Bangkok-Koh Samui
• Bangkok-Phuket
• Bangkok-Chiang Mai
• Bangkok-Krabi

TRAVEL agents prefer to be called travel consultants instead, reports the US-based National Association of Career Travel Agents (NACTA) through a recent member survey.

NACTA research conducted from December 2013 to January 2014 revealed nearly half (47.7 per cent) of the 1,281 respondents want to be called a travel consultant.

About 23.9 per cent prefer to be referenced as a travel professional; 12.7 per cent, travel agent; 7.5 per cent, travel advisor; and 4.3 per cent, travel expert.

The results were consistent with those of parent company ASTA’s survey conducted last fall, which revealed out of 282 respondents, 54 per cent prefer to be called travel consultant; 11 per cent, travel agent; 22 per cent, travel professional; and 10 per cent, travel advisor.

As a result of the findings, NACTA will now use the term ‘travel consultants’ when referring to its membership. NACTA also informally surveyed its members and found they prefer not to be referred to as “home-based agents”.

“The term home-based agent is irrelevant now as technology and personal relationships have changed how and where travel consultants are able to conduct business,” said Ann van Leeuwen, president of NACTA.

“It is not important to label where travel consultants might do business – what’s important is being good at what you do – selling travel and servicing your clients to the best of your ability.”

Meanwhile, TTG Asia Media has been employing the terms ‘travel consultant’, ‘travel specialist’ and ‘travel expert’ for the travel trade community in all its publications for two years now. We would also like to call on travel agency associations in Asia-Pacific to do the same, since travel consultants are more than just agents.

HILTON Worldwide today announced the signing of a new management agreement with Bali Ragawisata for the first Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts property in Indonesia.

The 96-villa Waldorf Astoria Bali located in Bukit Pandawa precinct in south Bali is also the fourth hotel in the pipeline in Indonesia for the global hospitality group.

The property scheduled to open in 2017 will also offer a range of facilities including a wedding chapel, outdoor event lawn, event courtyard, business centre, outdoor sea-facing pool with a beach club, private beach, bar, two restaurants as well as a health club and spa.

Waldorf Astoria Bali will be the brand’s second luxury property in South-east Asia, joining Waldorf Astoria Bangkok.

Just last month, in February, Hilton opened the Waldorf Astoria Beijing, making deeper inroads into the Asian market (TTG Asia e-Daily February 24, 2014)

THAILAND’S political crisis, which began last November, has not dented tourism in Phuket and Koh Samui, according to research by C9 Hotelworks, which cites increased airlift as the key driver of booming arrivals at both destinations.

Koh Samui received 1.7 million visitors last year, 88 per cent of who were from overseas with western Europeans accounting for half of all arrivals to the island.

C9 Hotelworks managing director, Bill Barnett, said growth in passengers travelling through Surat Thani airport, which increased 32 per cent, indicated the coastal town is now fully established as a second gateway to Samui, where Bangkok Airways has a monopoly on air access through its privately owned airport.

“Airlift is the key indicator for Samui’s growing business. Samui airport is capped at 36 flights per day. Surat Thani is Plan B for many travellers. It’s why you’re seeing more Thais travel to the island. Low-cost carriers like AirAsia provide a cheaper option and there are now direct flights to and from places like Malaysia as well as non-scheduled (charter) flights from China,” explained Barnett.

Increased throughput last year saw occupancy, ADR and RevPAR at the island’s hotels increase by five, seven and 14 per cent respectively, even though capacity at Samui International Airport reached 86 per cent.

Charter flights brought some 60,000 visitors through Surat Thani while visitors to the island from Russia and China rose 171 and 127 per cent year-on-year respectively.

Phuket posted record arrivals with 3.2 million people passing through the island’s international airport, representing growth of 26 per cent from 2012. China and Russia led the market, increasing 67 and 41 per cent year-on-year respectively.

ADR rose three per cent to US$147 with only a minimal decrease in occupancy, which fell two percentage points to 74 per cent. RevPAR was flat at US$110.

This positive performance saw Phuket outperform Bali, a key regional competitor, according to Barnett, who said overnight arrivals and increased access via Etihad had catalysed growth in mid- and longhaul arrivals to the destination.

THE search and rescue operations of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 continues into its fifth day, and the authorities have found no trace of the aircraft or the 239 passengers and crew onboard.

Although the aircraft is equipped with a continuous data monitoring system, which transmits data automatically, MAS reported there were no distress calls and no information relayed.

At press time, it is still unknown what went wrong with the aircraft or where it could possibly be.

Meanwhile, the two individuals travelling on stolen passports on the lost flight have been identified as Iranians Pouria Nour Mohammad Merhdad, 19 and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Erza, 29.

Speaking at a press conference in Lyon yesterday, Interpol secretary-general Ronald K Noble said the two had flown to Kuala Lumpur using their own passports and then switched to the stolen passports to board MH370.

Investigations revealed that Pouria Nour was on his way to join his mother in Germany. Noble said: “The more information we get, the more we are inclined to conclude it is not a terrorist incident.”

The press conference was held hours after Malaysia’s inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said the Malaysian police are investigating if the stolen passports are linked to passport theft or forgery rings in Thailand.

The investigation is focused on four main areas – hijacking, sabotage, psychological and personal problems of the passengers and crew.

On psychological and personal problems, Malaysia’s The Star quoted the inspector-general as saying: “Maybe somebody on the flight bought a huge sum of insurance and wanted his family to gain from it, or somebody who owed somebody else a lot of money, you know – we are looking at all possibilities.”

THE former director of Singapore-based Mandarin World Holidays (MWH) has been convicted of two charges under the Travel Agents Act, Chapter 334, for conducting the business of a travel agent without a valid licence.

According to Singapore Tourism Board (STB), two similar charges against Tan Siew Choo were taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing. She was fined S$3,000 (US$2,364) for the two proceeded charges.

MWH’s travel agent licence was first suspended from April 3, 2010 to July 1, 2010, following complaints received that it had been carrying out the business of a travel agent in a negligent and unprofessional manner.

STB received 28 complaints against MWH between 2008 and 2010. The agency’s licence was subsequently revoked on September 20, 2010 after it was found offering travel-related services during the suspension period.

During a raid by STB on October 13, 2010, however, MWH was found to be providing travel-related services despite having its travel agent licence revoked earlier.

As this was a clear contravention under Section 6 of the Travel Agents Act, STB commenced investigations and subsequent prosecution against MWH.

Section 6 of the Travel Agents Act stipulates that any person found guilty of engaging in unlicensed travel agent activities faces a maximum fine of S$10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.

PREFERRED Hotel Group has partnered Himalayas Hotels & Communities to add two hotels, Himalayas Qingdao Hotel and Himalayas Nantong Hotel, to its China portfolio.

Anthony Ross, executive vice president, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, said the partnership is a significant development, as it “exemplifies our commitment to expand the group’s brand into secondary cities across China”.

Both properties will represent the first lifestyle hotels to open in their respective cities and both are situated within larger development complexes offering shopping, dining, and entertainment options.

In addition, both properties feature paperless guestrooms, encouraging guests to pursue environment-friendly travel practices by doing everything from check-in to check-out using each property’s on-site technological offerings.

Himalayas Qingdao Hotel is scheduled to open end-March 2014, and is located in the seaside Laoshan District, just 10 minutes by car to Shilaoren Beach. It offers 208 guestrooms including 24 suites, an all-day dining restaurant, a lounge bar, a full-service Health Club and Spa Himalayas, and 1,000m² of flexible and well-equipped function space.

Himalayas Nantong Hotel at the mouth of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province is scheduled to open end-April 2014. It offers 80 guestrooms including 16 suites, and signature restaurant Jiu Jian Tang.

To celebrate the partnership, Himalayas Qingdao Hotel is offering a special free-night offer. From now through May 31, 2014, travellers can book one night and stay a second night for free. Packages start at RMB 1,388 (US$226), inclusive of breakfast for one person, service charge and tax. Terms and conditions apply.

MYANMAR’S Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has issued 166 hotel licences in the past year to accommodate its growing number of tourists.

The ministry’s director-general, Aung Zaw Win, said: “We are granting on average three new hotel licences per week. This will help us reach our target of 35,000 hotel rooms for 2014.

“The new hotels are focused around the most visited destinations of Yangon, Mandalay, Inle and Bagan. Together they provide over 7,800 rooms.”

Of the 166 hotels, 35 are international brands and the remaining local guesthouses.

Arrivals to Myanmar are growing rapidly with total visitors in 2013 at 900,161 compared to 593,381 in 2012 – of which in both years approximately 70 per cent were leisure travellers, according to PATA.

While the increase in accommodation choice is generally welcomed by agencies, not all are happy with the lack of regulations for licence granting.

Anne Cruickshanks, Myanmar manager at Grasshopper Adventures, highlighted: “These licenses need to be granted with some stronger stipulations regarding quality control and environmental regulations.

“Several of the larger properties developed recently or currently under construction are devastating once-lush landscapes and not adapting proper waste disposal practices which are, in the short term, harming the environment leading to long-term impacts on the tourism industry.”